Ukrainian municipalities are facing a new challenge during martial law — creating food reserves — and today, in addition to their direct duties, they should promptly resolve a new problem, which is not at all short-term as the war is ongoing. This was stated by Ihor Ahibalov, Head of the Regional Office of U-LEAD with Europe in the Luhansk oblast.
According to him, creating the reserves and the cooperation between the municipalities and military administrations are key elements of mobilization efforts. The legislation provides for two types of reserves: an emergency reserve and a special-period reserve in case of war. The local self-government bodies should consider food security in terms of the need for rations during a special period.
As Mr Ahibalov added, the municipalities need to identify the food products to be provided and the groups of the population entitled to them, as well as the procedure for the cooperation between the local self-government bodies and the territorial bodies of state executive power when organising the relevant efforts. At the same time, it is critical to understand the potential of businesses in the respective territories to manage the creation and storage of this reserve.
“In short, the legislation enshrines the old administrative system of conducting this work, which provides for the direct subordination of businesses to public authorities. Although the main component is the calculations per age group. This should be the starting point for local self-government. Naturally, these data should be protected with care, and it is important to seek businesses and organisations that will be able to contribute to the food reserves,” he said.
How are all these calculations made? Overall mobilisation efforts are coordinated by the competent department of the body subordinated directly to the head. Calculations are usually made by one of the departments of the regional military administration.
“The first stages require constant communication between local self-government bodies and units of the regional military administration. There must be current data on the population of the respective categories available from the municipalities. After receiving these data, regional units make calculations, which are quite simple.
The results are then transferred to the same local self-government bodies to hold a contractual campaign with economic entities. Obviously, this is done in compliance with appropriate safety measures because this information is confidential,” he stressed.
The final stage is the contracting campaign. It is vital to learn about the actual cases of implementing such activities, and we share them with the municipalities at our events. There are cases both since 2014 and from the start of the full-scale war in 2022.
“We always answer the main question that the municipalities have: What practical value do these measures hold for them? It is not only about the obligations under the mobilisation legislation. Having a clear idea of the food-related needs of the population allows you to handle humanitarian aid more efficiently so that each resident receives their lawful share of food. Moreover, at the state level, from the very beginning of the full-scale invasion, additional programmes have been adopted to guarantee food security, and here the key requirement of local self-government is again to calculate the needs,” said Igor Ahibalov.
We remind you that U-LEAD experts help municipalities develop food security programmes.